World Champions

There are so many people who I wish could have been alive to see 2004, and now tonight. I'm thinking of them right now. I can't tell you how many members of my family and my close friends would have killed to have seen one championship, let alone two in four seasons. You're who this is for, and I hope you had a great seat watching it from high above.

... A more profound entry when it all sinks in.

Game 4

... Second World Series in three years. Second chance to sweep it. Jon Lester, a year removed from chemotherapy, has a chance to close out the Rockies tonight.

Four years ago I was at the lowest I've ever been in my life. If you would have told me on Oct. 17, 2003 that the Red Sox would be going for their second World Series sweep in three years, I would have never believed you.

I feel so blessed right now. I just wish I had someone other than pops with whom to partake in the celebration. It's these special days when I miss New Englanders most.

Looking ahead to Game 3 ...

I'm not happy with having to sit any of Lowell/Youkilis/Ortiz. Tito says he's going with sitting Youkilis, whose line for the playoffs is ONLY .396/.483/.771. Lowell comes in with a .333/.404/.584 line. Ortiz = .385/.527/.744.

What it boils down to is benching any of these guys sucks. My dad's all pissed because he's a big Youkilis guy, but I don't think you can take Ortiz's bat out of the lineup against a righty (Josh Fogg). Papi comes in with much better stats against righties than Youkilis, but you kind of get the vibe that Youks is so dialed in he'd hit anybody, anywhere. And I agree with leaving Lowell at third, mostly for the defense.

I wonder if management considered sliding Youkilis into the outfield slot, right field I guess, and having the now-incredibly-hot J.D. Drew play center. It isn't like Ellsbuy is lighting up the playoffs (OPS of .504, ouch).

Hopefully we'll jump off to a big lead against Fogg and Youkilis can come in for Ortiz by the sixth inning or so. I worry about how Ortiz's knees will hold up when he has to lunge for throws or dive for line drives. Papi diving -- that's a scary thought.

Side note: We named our family cat Joshua Foggy Klee after Josh Fogg in 1998. He passed away last winter, the victim of some sort of coyote or alligator attack in the backyard. We're not sure what animal got to him. But it's weird that we're facing Josh Fogg in the World Series now. I think Joshie would have wanted the Sox to light up his namesake. RIP Little Buddy ... I'll be thinking of you during Game 3.

Also, funny link of the day courtesy of the Onion:
The Curse of Curtis Leskanic

Sox take Game 1

Beckett dominated. Jeff Francis did not. Our offense showed up. Colorado's did not. We win. You lose. All in a day's work. Yes, I realize that the ALCS started in the same fashion. But I also realized tonight what an inferior league the NL really is. As long as Schilling shows up tomorrow, I now think there's no way Colorado even wins a game in this series. Perhaps my prediction of Sox in 6 was a little pessimistic.

Lowell was the only starter without an RBI, and even the worthless Julio Lugo chipped in with a 3-4 performance. The Sox combined for a .414 batting average, and that's with Crisp and Hinske getting late at-bats. The Red Sox also combined for an OBP of .826 with two outs. EIGHT-TWENTY-SIX ... make sure you read that right. Meanwhile, through 4.2 innings, Rockies pitchers had already thrown 154 pitches and allowed 13 earned runs. Truly a pathetic performance.

Tomorrow we get Ubaldo Jimenez and his pretty terrible K/BB ratio. Hopefully Red Sox batters will be patient (per usual) and work a lot of walks. Like I said, if Schilling shows up with his ALCS Game 6 stuff, we should be headed to Denver with a 2-0 lead.

I got home to find my new SI bearing a brilliant photograph of Ray Ray, KG and the Truth, with a pretty Celtics green background for good measure. Boston's championship banners can be seen in the background. While SI didn't pick the Cs to win it all (Dallas, what the fuck?!), it was still pretty cool to have it really sink in that the Celtics are relevant again.

The issue also had Joe Sheehan's projection for the series, in which he correctly said that the Red Sox dominate the Rockies in hitting, pitching, and yes, even fielding. (Sorry, Joe Morgans of the world, but fielding percentage just isn't the best way to measure how good a team is defensively anymore.) I was surprised to see Sheehan bust out with EqA statistics, as if the common, simpleton SI reader could possibly comprehend that EqA is a much better hitting gauge than batting average. But alas, these are the changing times. It's refreshing to see a national magazine like SI give BP writers (aka Gods) the credit they deserve.

World Series begins tonight

Days like today make me realize how significant Oct. 27, 2004 was to my life. People down here in Florida who just don't "get it" couldn't possibly understand how a World Series title could change an entire collective psyche of a region. But it did.

Instead of nervous, I feel optimistic. Instead of my stomach being in knots, I feel ready for whatever the "Baseball Gods" throw at us in the next week. I won't live and die with every error or save situation or bases-loaded jam. What a difference it was between the Tony Clark-Keith Foulke at-bat of 2004 and the Kenny Lofton fiasco of 2007. Yes, I was nervous and my heart was practically popping out of my chest, but I didn't have this overwhelming sense of doom that this team is never going to win it for my grandma, dad, me, etc.

If they win the World Series this year, I won't go outside and stare at the moon and think about all of my family who weren't around for 2004. I won't go leave a Red Sox hat at a grave site after the parade. Hell, I probably won't even make it up for the parade this time around.

Right now, it's just about finishing what we started in April. A team that finished (tied) with the best record in baseball has a chance to complete what it set out to do in Spring Training. This team was built to win a championship, and you'd be hard-pressed to find somebody in Boston who didn't consider the Red Sox the favorite to win. This season has been a hell of a ride, but there are still four wins to go.

If it doesn't work out, life will go on. But for all I've invested in this team in 21 years, I think I deserve another championship. It's midnight, Cinderella.

My pick: Sox in 6. Beckett dominates tonight.

Shipping up to Boston

For the love of God, Tito, put Ellsbury in the starting lineup. Or just leave Coco in Cleveland -- that works too. He left his hitting skills there in 2005. He should stay there until he finds them.

Back to Boston -- where the Water is Dirty, the air is nippy and Curt will dominate. I have full confidence that this series is going seven games.

"It's on bitches."

Oh, and Beckett is my hero.

I HATE this team.

I have a colossal, epic rant somewhere deep inside my tiny frame. Unfortunately, I don't have time so instead, you get this:

Fuck you, hitters 6-9 in the lineup. And fuck you to the leadoff hitter, too. You may be the Rookie of the Year and you my have saved Clay's no-hitter, but you're not immune to my ire. Choking fucking runt. Fuck you, Terry, for even refusing to consider starting Beckett in Game 4. Yes, it's a huge gamble. But you're so smug and confident in your veterans that you don't even consider your options. Exhibit B: No sign of Ellsbury despite Crisp's COMPLETE INABILITY to do ANYTHING productive for this team in the past ... well, really since he slid into third base head-first. Fuck you, Schilling and Daisuke. Your inability to put together anything resembling a quality start has put us in a major hole.

Look: Ortiz, Beckett and Ramírez CANNOT do this alone. You cannot win a battle of three against nine. You will lose EVERY TIME.

Tomorrow, we'll see Wakefield against Byrd and undoubtedly Crisp at center field. It's really scary to think that our season hinges on Tim Wakefield, who we haven't seen pitch since the last week of the regular season.

Uggghhhh.